[NYtenants-Online] NY Tenants Online 4/19/00

[tenant]

NYtenants Online                                          4/19/00
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In this issue...

1. Landlords Fail Math Test (City Limits on the MBR Lawsuit)
2. Giving Credit Where it's Due
    (On the MBR Lawsuit - NYSTNC tries to grab the credit again)
3. Don’t Think We Were Not Warned!
4. New York City: A Great Place To Visit But Can You Live There?
5. Why Has the City’s Housing Agency Bounced a Proven
    Landlord Litigator? (Voice)

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LANDLORDS FAIL MATH TEST
City Limits Weekly
April 17, 2000

Rent-controlled tenants can now breathe easier: On April 6, the state 
Supreme Court validated the way that their rents are being calculated--a 
method that has led to relatively modest annual increases recently of 
between 3 and 4 percent.

A 1996 case filed by landlord groups sought to change the way these rent 
hikes are officially figured, by requiring state administrators to use a 
more generous state-determined formula rather than a locally determined 
formula. Tenant groups, led by the Metropolitan Council on Housing, 
requested that the local formula become permanent. Had the judge decided in 
favor of the landlords, rent-controlled tenants would be facing 7.5 percent 
rent increases each year.

Instead, the judge said the local calculus was "a better estimate," because 
it measured landlord profits by averaging the cash flow in rental-sized 
buildings only, rather than using all types of buildings as a standard of 
comp arison.

For the tenants of the city's 70,572 rent-controlled apartments, the added 
protection of the judge's decision is a real boon. Rent-controlled tenants 
are some of the city's most vulnerable: Their median household income in 
1995 was only $13,428, and the median age of a rent-controlled tenant was 
70. "Generally, [rent-controlled tenants] are the lowest-income tenants in 
the city," said lawyer Stephen Dobkin, who argued the tenant side of this 
case. Allowing a major rent increase, he added, "would not only be 
unjustified, but would have been a terrible hardship."

--Kathleen McGowan

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GIVING CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE

To City Limits
    Letter to the Editor
    Re: Landlords Fail Math Test

Dear Ms. McGowan

I just received the City Limits weekly fax and wish to point out numerous
errors appearing in the above short article. In case you're planning on a 
fuller article in City Limits Magazine, you might want to take note of them 
(you can verify the following facts by checking with Stephen Dobkin or 
William Gribben, the attorneys in this case).

I labored hard and long with Speaker Vallone's legal staff, the City 
Council's Housing Committee and the Mayor's office to get Local Law #73 
passed on Sept.30, 1997 (the Council vote was 43-1) which resulted in 
realistic and moderate MBR increases for Rent Controlled tenants. The very 
next day, October 1, 1997 the Landlords sued in Albany County to declare 
Local Law #73 invalid. The law firm of Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben and 
Donoghue had already been retained by the Coalition of Rent Controlled 
Tenants of New York City -- a group I had helped form two years earlier -- 
to fight an adverse decision handed down by the Appellate Division, Third 
Department. It now prepared, on our behalf, to intervene in the new case in 
Albany.

For some time other tenant groups, notably the New York State Tenant and 
Neighborhood Coalition (NYSTNC) had brought pressure on the Himmelstein law 
firm to allow them to join with us in lawsuits we had already initiated. 
However, they were neither willing or able to contribute money or expertise 
to the effort. For them, it was blatantly a "public relations" ploy -- 
wanting to look good to their membership and to the press. Should anyone be 
surprised? Tenants & Neighbors often tries to glom onto and take credit for 
activities of which they have had little or no involvement.

In fact, throughout the two-and-half year history of this legal battle 
these organizations (with the slight exception of Met Council) attended NOT 
ONE of the numerous meetings that were held to do research, develop 
arguments, plan strategy and secure important expert affidavits.

The active participants were William Gribben and Serge Joseph of the 
Himmelstein law firm, Stephen Dobkin and John Lilienthal (formerly of Met 
Council) from the Collins, Dobkin and Miller law firm, attorney Robert Levy 
and myself.

Let me repeat, neither NYSTNC nor the other organizations showed up once!! 
They contributed absolutely nothing but their unwanted names to these 
lawsuits. To this day, the leaders of those organizations barely understand 
the technical issues at the heart of this legislation for which they 
cynically wish to claim credit.

Other errors of fact:

1. There is no "state-determined formula" verses a "locally determined 
formula". There is only one formula in both Local Law #30 (original MBR law 
passed in 1970) and in the New Local Law #73.

2. What has changed is the technique for determining Capital Value in the 
Return on Capital Value (RCV) component of the formula(that "return" is a 
statutory eight and one half percent).

3. The case had nothing at all to do with "cash flow" -- an incoherent 
notion in this context. The precise and accurate capital value of the 
sample buildings used in the formula was at issue.

4. There are currently 53,000 rent controlled units, not 70,572 and the 
median income has increased from $13,428 to $17,000(1999 HVS) and rent 
controlled tenants are not the lowest income group, that honor belongs to 
tenants in city-owned "in-rem" buildings.

Landlords and Government Officials have long scoffed at tenant leaders and 
tenant-friendly publications for not getting or reporting the facts 
accurately. It doesn't help to have our credibility continued to be laughed 
at and derided.

Stanley Panesoff
Coalition of Rent-Controlled Tenants of NYC

Mr. Panesoff is an Urban Housing Specialist at Community Training and 
Resource Center, which publishes a series of tenant fact sheets, available 
on TenantNet at http://tenant.net/Rights/CTRC

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DON’T THINK WE WERE NOT WARNED!

Six years ago a then Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Housing, 
Preservation and Development (HPD) Mr. Robert Davis predicted dire 
consequences if further cuts were made to the already depleted Code 
Enforcement and Housing Litigation budgets. At the time there were about 
280 housing inspectors and over 50 lawyers to litigate against chronically 
negligent landlords. By 1996 there were 195 inspectors and by 1998 there 
were only 21 lawyers. By February 2000 the staffing crisis was still 
significantly worse then when Deputy Commissioner Davis made his dire 
predictions.

These were the predictions from February 1994:*

Longer periods of waiting for an inspection for  heat emergencies (over the 
24-48 hour standard) -- IT HAPPENED!

A reduction of HPD’s ability to help settle code enforcement matters in 
housing court -- IT HAPPENED!

Fewer violations being written resulting in a decreased quality of life and 
increased safety hazards for tenants -- IT HAPPENED!

Increased inability to appropriately respond to serious (non-heat) 
complaints such as vermin, lead, window guards etc. -- IT HAPPENED!

Impairment of Code Enforcement’s ability to conduct re-inspections to 
verify landlord’s claims of violation corrections -- IT HAPPENED!
	
Davis was right.  The chronic under-staffing of Code Enforcement, Housing 
Litigation and Emergency Services at HPD continues to contribute to the 
loss of low to moderate income housing and a reduction in the quality of 
life for NYC tenants.

The City Council must ensure that any budget agreement with the Mayor 
includes funds to significantly increase the number of Housing Inspectors 
and Attorneys.

Let’s put an end to immunity for chronic abusers of our legally established 
housing standards! Let’s ENFORCE the Housing Maintenance Code properly! For 
more information contact Adrian Di Lollo at ANHD on (212) 463-9600.

*Source:  Code Enforcement: Impact of Recent Budget Reductions.  Memo dated 
February 14, 1994 by Robert K. Davis, former Deputy Commissioner, 
Department of Housing, Preservation & Development.

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NEW YORK CITY: A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT BUT CAN YOU LIVE THERE?

The City Administration points to the reduction of crime statistics as a 
major achievement brought about in part by better enforcement of criminal 
law. But what about the enforcement of other laws meant to protect the 
health, safety and quality of life of ordinary New Yorkers? The Housing & 
Maintenance Code, for example, obliges landlords to maintain basic housing 
standards and is the legal basis by which tenants can demand decent 
conditions and services to keep their homes livable.

The Housing & Maintenance Code continues to be seriously under-enforced by 
the NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD) due to 
chronic staff shortages in the Code Enforcement Unit, the Housing 
Litigation and Emergency Services Bureaus.  The result has been a crisis 
that increasingly threatens our housing standards, our living conditions 
and the quality of life for all NYC tenants.

CRISIS: Serious lags in inspection times for heat and hot water emergencies 
during cold snaps

TENANTS NEED: An ability for Code Enforcement to respond to heat 
emergencies within an absolute maximum of 48 hours

CRISIS: Continued backlog of non-emergency violations  many remaining 
uncorrected for months or years

TENANTS NEED: Code Enforcement to respond to non-emergency complaints 
within 1 week (2 weeks in winter)

CRISIS: Very dated and unreliable information on problem buildings, thereby 
missing opportunities to prevent abandonment

TENANTS NEED: A major effort by HPD to update its data base of problem 
buildings to better target assistance

CRISIS: Slow responses by the Emergency Services Bureau (ESB)

TENANTS NEED: ESB to complete assessment of emergency situation with 48 hours

CRISIS: Very few roof to cellar inspections

TENANTS NEED: Targeted numbers of roof to cellar inspections during 
non-heat season

CRISIS: Inability to adequately respond to inspection requests from 
HPD-contracted community-based organizations (CBOs)

TENANTS NEED: A strong working agreement between Code Enforcement and CBOs 
with inspections  undertaken by request

CRISIS: Many Housing Court orders to repair (or restore services) ignored 
by landlords.

TENANTS NEED: Housing Litigation Bureau to pursue more civil contempt cases

CRISIS: Few comprehensive litigation cases (i.e. where HPD sue for all 
recorded violations) in major problem buildings

TENANTS NEED: A targeted number of comprehensive cases to be undertaken 
each year

The City Council must only agree on a budget with the Mayor IF it includes 
substantial increases for HPD Code Enforcement, Housing Litigation and 
Emergency Services.

Quality of life is more than reducing crime.  It’s about ensuring our right 
live in safe, habitable conditions as demanded under existing law. Add your 
voice to the struggle to improve housing code enforcement and demand decent 
funding in this year’s budget!

For more information call Adrian Di Lollo at the Association for 
Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) on (212) 463-9600.

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WHY HAS THE CITY’S HOUSING AGENCY BOUNCED A PROVEN LANDLORD LITIGATOR?
Village Voice, March 29, 2000
by J. A. Lobbia

Courting Trouble - In the past year, attorney Abbie Gorin has convinced 
housing court judges to send five of Brooklyn’s most recalcitrant landlords 
to jail. In 22 years at the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and 
Development (HPD), his reputation as a fair but relentless litigator has 
earned him the respect of even his most strident opponents. Gorin helped 
develop an innovative program to educate rather than fine some landlords 
who fail to provide heat or hot water. And in the past decade, Gorin has 
consistently received nothing less than outstanding reviews from his bosses.

So you'd think that HPD would be happy to keep Gorin at his post, fighting 
landlords who shirk the law and sometimes even endanger tenants. Instead, 
the agency has sent the 48-year-old Brooklyn native "into exile," says 
Gorin, yanking him out of the courtroom and dumping him behind a desk with 
vague instructions to advise litigants on how to navigate housing court.

Gorin says there are two reasons for the move, both purely political. The 
first is his history of union activity, which has made Gorin as much of a 
pain in the backside of his employer as he is to his courtroom foes. "I 
absolutely believe this was done in retaliation for my complaint against my 
supervisor," says Gorin, a member of the Civil Service Bar Association 
(CSBA), who last June filed a grievance because Ulysses Moulterie, an 
attorney with a lower civil service status than his own, was promoted to 
supervise him.

The second reason, Gorin says, is the pro-landlord bias of one of his 
bosses, HPD assistant commissioner Elizabeth Bolden, who is in charge of 
the housing litigation bureau where Gorin worked until he was transferred 
on March 7. Says Gorin, "I was told by several people that Elizabeth Bolden 
wanted to know why so many small landlords are going to jail."

It would seem beyond ironic for the chief of litigation at the city's 
housing agency to bemoan landlord lockups. But in what one source calls "a 
decidedly pro-landlord shift in the whole thrust of the agency under Mayor 
Rudy Giuliani," HPD has developed a strategy that, while aiming to prevent 
abandonment, often bolsters rather than battles landlords. "What we're 
doing," says one staffer, "is taking landlords who we used to sue and 
instead are propping them up."

In fact, Gorin's new stint is part of HPD's "Pathways to Responsible 
Ownership" program, designed to help housing court litigants who have no 
attorney, which almost always means tenants rather than landlords. But the 
program's goal of "streamlining" court procedures addresses landlords' 
long-standing complaint that it takes too long to win an eviction.

The possibility that Bolden in particular favors landlords stems from an 
escapade in Harlem in 1995—three years before she worked at HPD—in which 
she bought a single-room-occupancy building and emptied it of three 
long-term renters, including elderly tenant Barbara North, who complained 
that Bolden had nailed shut bathroom doors. In March 1996, Manhattan 
housing court judge Howard Malatzky ordered Bolden to make a good-faith 
effort to repair and provide access to a third-floor bathroom. But several 
weeks after Malatzky's deadline passed, Bolden wrote to North's attorney 
saying the repairs would not be made.

When the plumber began work, Bolden wrote, "I forgot that I still owed him 
money from December '95. . . . I do not have any money and am basically 
living paycheck to paycheck. I have other bills that are outstanding that 
must be paid. . . . So I'm sorry but right now I just don't have the money."

Bolden, who wanted the whole building to herself, negotiated to buy out the 
tenants for $500 each. Eventually, the tenants moved out, but Bolden's 
money problems continued. Last year, she settled a $12,841.36 credit card 
bill by agreeing to a monthly payment plan. Bolden, who worked as an 
attorney for the Bronx office of the Administration for Children's Services 
before coming to HPD in August 1998, earns more than $80,000 a year at the 
housing agency.

Bolden declined through HPD's press office to comment. HPD spokesperson 
Carol Abrams would not answer questions about Gorin's transfer, saying only 
that matters pertaining to Bolden "have been previously reviewed and have 
been determined not to affect her duties at HPD."

Gorin says he was not told why he was transferred, but says he made it 
clear to Bolden and other HPD higher-ups that he did not want to make the 
move, although sources say several other employees would like to. Gorin is 
grieving the move through his union, and CSBA business agent Saul Fishman 
says the union may take the issue further by filing an "improper practice" 
complaint. "What we're saying is that this was done in retaliation because 
of Abbie's union activity," says Fishman. "They're trying to both punish 
him and have a chilling effect on others."

This isn't the first time Gorin has registered complaints through the 
union; in fact, even his allies say Gorin's persistent criticisms of HPD 
account for the transfer. "They really hate Abbie higher up on the food 
chain at HPD, and they want to get him out of their hair," says one source. 
Gorin has regularly lambasted the agency about its inadequate number of 
attorneys (now about 30, down from a high of about 80) and its chronic 
shortage of inspectors. At the onset of the past few winters, Gorin has 
warned his bosses of his worry that the attorney shortage could undermine 
agency efforts to enforce heat requirements. And his willingness to talk to 
the press as a union member about those issues has done nothing to endear 
him to the increasingly clammed-up agency. "I have never disobeyed them," 
says Gorin. "But I have often told them things they don't want to hear."

One coworker suggests that Gorin has made enemies by bringing his 
suspicions of HPD corruption to agency investigators. "Now he's in a 
no-man's-land where he can't use his talents, while we barely have enough 
attorneys as it is."

Indeed, it is arguably Gorin's confrontational style that accounts for his 
courtroom scorecard. "Abbie is one of the most fierce HPD attorneys; he's 
excellent," says Robert Rosenblatt, a landlord lawyer whose clients have 
been among Gorin's targets. "He's an intelligent, vigorous opponent who 
knows the law inside and out. He's more aggressive for HPD than most other 
attorneys I know. As a landlord attorney, I'd rather not face him; he hurts 
my clients. But as a tenant, I'd absolutely want him. HPD has done a great 
disservice taking him out of the courtroom."

Gorin, who joined HPD in 1978, has always been outspoken and even 
philosophical, considering the workaday grind that can wear down anyone who 
spends days, much less years, in housing court. He's as quick to analyze 
the realpolitik that might motivate a particular judge's ruling as he is to 
launch into a mini-lecture on economics or ethics. "I believe that real 
estate is like any market and has to be protected from rogue players and 
slumlords," says Gorin. "That's separate from a moral position that says 
they violate tenants' rights. You also have to look at how the market 
operates. Rogue players tend to discourage investment and reinvestment, and 
it's in the city's interest to stop that."

In his tenure, Gorin has seen HPD decline from an aggressive enforcer into 
its current emaciated state. He was involved in litigation against some of 
Brooklyn's most notorious landlords, including "Dracula Landlord" J. 
Leonard Spodek, and still feels the sting of a 20-year-old newspaper column 
that blamed his inexperience for the hypothermia that killed a tenant in a 
heatless Fort Greene apartment.

"I remember that story about John Grimes at 254 Vanderbilt Avenue; he was 
only in his sixties and Michael Daly wrote a column blaming me," says 
Gorin, who was a young lawyer when he was pursuing Grimes's landlord in 
court. While he insists the newsman's blame was misplaced, "it all came 
back to me when Lena Hurt died."

Hurt was a senior citizen who was found dead in her sweltering Brooklyn 
apartment in July 1998. Her landlord, Absolum Hunter, was in the midst of a 
long-running legal battle with HPD, which was represented by Gorin. Hunter 
had told news reporters he wanted tenants out of the building because they 
paid no rent. HPD charged that Hunter had been running the boiler in the 
summer, and inspectors recorded a temperature of 104 degrees in Hurt's 
apartment. The medical examiner concluded that Hurt died of heart disease, 
but Gorin says he has always wondered what effect the broiling apartment 
had on Hurt's health. Just last month, Brooklyn housing court judge Ava 
Alterman sentenced Hunter to 30 days in jail for contempt because he failed 
to make repairs. However, the landlord has not served that sentence, partly 
because, since Gorin was transferred, no one has followed up on necessary 
paperwork with Alterman. HPD spokesperson Abrams says Gorin's workload will 
be handled through "load balancing and productivity increases."

Meanwhile, Gorin reports daily to his new post. He consults with volunteer 
attorneys who guide tenants through housing court, or gives advice himself. 
And while he acknowledges that the post could be useful and a "potentially 
good job for someone who wants to do it," he laments that his bosses 
haven't given him more than a seven-sentence job description.

"I'm fairly bummed out that I can't ever bring a court case on behalf of 
the city again," says Gorin. "But aside from that, I don't even know quite 
what I'm supposed to do in this job. I've been sent here as a eunuch. If I 
were given a mandate, I could be hell on wheels."